Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-29

bideous in Themselves that the atten.
ton is forced TO it. Maxin,iiian is a
mean, whitehead creature in o qncer
hat, who looks intoxicated to dulness.
The soldiers are not Mexican at all.
There is but one good figure IN this
disgusting and extremely stupid pic
,ure--that Of "A non commissioned OIL
Ger. who examines the lock Of his gun
behind the squad OF soldiers, whose
muskets, as they fire, almost touch the
breasts Of Macmillan and his fellow
sufferers.
The great fame which NJ. Puyis. lie
Chayannes has won in France makes
ten examples Of bis work in the North
Gallery most interesting. Some are
synthetic symbolical compositions,
Ike War" Peace" " Work. -
Crest: others reductions OF large
wall paintings at the Pantheon, and his
famous "Ludus pro Patria." The i'm
preston one gets OF NJ. de Chayannes
is the same as that produced by the
elaborate tapestries formerly made at
the Cobelins factory one might say
that almost all these pictures are
cartoons in light colors from
which tapestries were TO be woven.
His rendition, his solidity Of
mind, his unusual power of compost
ton, impress one strongly, but the
drawing which he has chosen 10 use is
anything but agreeable 1t suggests a
barren effort to recall the ndiCoE OF
men like Giotto however praiseworthy
the effort .pay be, the doing II to-day
in Paris L. perhaps, beyond the power
of man. Not that such ideals are out
of placc. or that one does not honor
NJ. de Chavannes Tor trying, but that
for one reason or another he has not
succeeded. This is terrible heresy in
French art just now. The most
successful thing here is 1.-The Poor
Fisherman" who has put his net
down and stands in his rude boat with
arms folded over his miserable shirt rs
if praying for luck. His wife and
child walk and sleep in medieval atti-
tudes on the flower spread shore but
in the face and figure of the poor man
NJ. dc Chavanncs has shown a childlike,
sorrowirl resignation which is touch
ing. In the Dream " three angels,
stiif as if cut from cardboard, are in the
act of descending from the sky upon
poor woman asleep at the foot OF a
tree.
Other notable pictures are the " Di-
ana Surprised" by Lefebvre, shown in
the Salon of 1879, full of beautiful,
clear figures of women undraped {;
Death of Bull" by the sculptor
Falgui6rCs, who is competing at Wash
ington for the monument to Lafayette,
and, ike Dubois, is an excellent paint
err: Pictures at the Pantheon" in
colored reductions, 10y Henri Levy /;
"A Captain, Spanish figure, by Meis-
sonier Dogs" by Joseph M6lin !;
I've Want Banbbas. by c. l.. Mul-
Ter, turbulent scene, in which man
behind Barabbas holds his arms
up and opens his mouth exactly
like the displeasing jew in Munkacsys
"Christ Before Plate - Morning y
and Evening" two curious impress
siye cauyases by Rousseau Night
March aud Reserve Troops" care
full and well-composed military pictures
by Z. 4. Protais, and II seated - Mag
dalen,' with II vishy-washy face, by
Pierre Auguste Cot. The pictures are
BOB in number and represent wide
range of talent without having very
high average of merit. We may say
that American painters can regard the
collection with Il good deal OF com-
posurc. since il shows that native work
men equal all but the very best French
artists and in some cases push the best
very close.